Bteslem / 31 March 2024 

I am unemployed and make a living off raising birds and occasional odd jobs. I have a lot of health problems, some of them due to previous periods in Israeli prison. I have hypoglycemia, an ulcer, and high blood pressure, and I've had two operations: disc surgery in my back in 2010 and meniscus surgery in my knee in 2000, after a soldier hit me. From the first intifada in 1988 to October 2023, I was arrested six times and spent a total of 3.5 years in prison. All that is nothing compared to what I went through in the last imprisonment – after 7 October 2023. 

They hit anyone who dared argue with them and swore at us. They told us there would be no mercy

On 19 October 2023, at 2:15 AM, about 30 to 40 soldiers came to my house. They tried to break down the door but I opened it before they managed to. The second I opened the door, the officer asked straight away if I belonged to Hamas. Before I could answer, he said, "The whole family is Hamas." Then he suddenly punched me in the mouth, and my lips started to bleed. I spat out the blood and he yelled, "Why are you spitting?" and punched me again along with two other soldiers. I answered, "I spat out blood, my lips are bleeding." After that, a group of soldiers attacked my son Seif a-Din, 24, for no reason. They beat him hard with their rifles, punched him and kicked him while some of them held him. I heard him shouting. 

Musa ‘Aasi after his release.

When my wife saw them hitting me, she tried to intervene and to call for help, but the soldiers pushed her into a room and shut her in. They then took my ID card and Seif’s ID card. They dragged me to the entrance to the house, threw me down on the floor and tied my hands in front of me with zip ties. They covered my eyes with a shirt they took from the house, and tied it so tight over my eyes that it hurt. I told them I had a herniated disc in my back and was after knee surgery, and then they deliberately hit the body parts I mentioned. 

After about 30 minutes of searching the apartment and acting violently, without presenting a warrant or explaining anything, they took Seif and me. They arrested another two people from the neighborhood and marched us all on foot towards a garden in the village, about a kilometer from my house. The whole way, they harassed us, hitting, pushing, swearing and insulting us. One soldier whispered in my ear, "I’ll fuck you." I replied, "Go fuck yourself," and the beating grew worse. That happened about 200 meters from the garden. He hit me on the waist with his rifle butt four or five times, and other soldiers punched me, especially near the kidneys. I blacked out and fell down. A few seconds later, I came to and heard a female soldier shouting at them to pick me up. At first they tried to stand me up, but I couldn’t stand on my feet. So they dragged me by the hands and feet, with my head tilted back. They ran with me like that and then threw me on the floor of a khanzira vehicle (APC). My whole body was limp, and I was in severe pain. 

Meanwhile, I heard Seif screaming and realized he was being beaten. He was calling for help and screaming with pain. We stayed there for about an hour, while they continued to bring more people. In the end, we were about 25 detainees. They loaded us all into military vehicles and drove us away in a convoy. They took us to the military camp near Beit ‘Ur al-Foqa, eight kilometers away, and the whole way the soldiers kicked me in the back while I was lying face down. One soldier kept asking in Hebrew, which I understand, "Is he still breathing?" and they answered, "Yes." I was in a lot of pain and begged them to stop, but they were merciless and continued. 

When we got to the camp, they ordered us to kneel on gravel. It was around 4:00 or 4:30 A.M. The soldiers there shouted at us that we were Hamas, criminals, ISIS. They hit anyone who dared argue with them and swore at us. They told us there would be no mercy. 

From the beginning, I realized this time round in prison would be different. At 5:00 A.M., they put us on a bus and made us sit on the floor. The soldiers got in and sat on the seats. They took us to Ofer Prison and swore at us and humiliated us the whole way. At Ofer, they took us off the bus, blindfolded and handcuffed, led us to a yard and made us sit on the ground. Then a doctor came to see us but he did nothing, only filled out forms; it was just a formality. That lasted until 3:00 or 4:00 P.M. During all that time, they didn’t give us any food or drink and didn’t allow us to go to the bathroom. If anyone asked, they hit him. Then they put us back on the bus, and this time sat us on the seats. They took us to the Etzion detention facility and let us out in the yard. I could see enough under the blindfold to identify the place. We stayed in the yard until 10:00 P.M. I had cramps in my buttocks and it hurt a lot. I later developed hemorrhoids as a result. 

Then they divided us into groups, removed the blindfolds and zip ties, and took us one by one into a room where there were two or three soldiers. The soldiers stripped us naked and strip-searched us with devices. Then they put us in detention cells. The cells were very crowded. In a cell measuring 5x2.5 meters, which is enough for eight inmates at most, they put 12 or 14 of us. A cell like that has three to five iron beds. The rest of the detainees slept on the floor, on very thin mattresses and without blankets. The toilets were inside the cell, with a very smelly blanket instead of a door. 

Anyone who dared move was taken to isolation, where they beat him and tied him to a chair in the "Shabach" position, with his hands behind his back

When they put us in the cells, it was Thursday at 10:00 P.M. Until Saturday morning, we got only one meal – a pot of spaghetti for all 120 detainees, which we had to eat with our hands. They put the pot in the yard and took out groups in turn to eat from it. On Saturday, at 9:00 A.M., they led us out of the cells to the corridor, about 70 inmates, covered our eyes again with bits of cloth and tied our hands with zip ties, some in front and others behind the back. My hands were tied in front. After an hour, they drove us back to Ofer Prison escorted by the Nachshon Unit, which is responsible for transporting detainees. They swore at us all the way. When we got to Ofer, we went through intake procedures for detention, which include a medical examination and a naked strip-search with a device. They gave us prison uniforms. Throughout those procedures, the guards beat and humiliated us for no reason. 

At 4:00 P.M., they put me in a detention cell in wing 24, which has 20 cells. Every cell has four iron bunk beds, meaning they’re intended for eight people. They put 12 to 14 of us in every cell, so the others slept on the floor. The cell was very crowded, and sometimes we stepped on each other because there was no room for our feet. If you went to the toilet, you'd probably step on someone sleeping on the way there. I was in that cell for two weeks, during which I showered only once, with lukewarm water. 

They provided very little food. They gave 12 people a quantity that was enough for four. There were only two meals a day. The first was at noon and the second at 4:00 P.M. It was very different from my previous times in prison: the food was different, we couldn't buy from the canteen, and they didn't take us out to the yard at all. They kept us all the time in the 5x2.5-meter cell, which you couldn’t even walk in and had a toilet inside. We didn't get coffee, tea or fruit, and we only got one piece of meat a week, a sausage or a piece of schnitzel. 

The treatment was very bad: constant shouting, humiliation and swearing from the IPS staff. They would come into the cell three times a day, at 6:00 A.M., 11:00 A.M. and 6:00 P.M. It was very humiliating. Each time they demanded we stand up, and came in heavily armed and carrying tear-gas canisters. Anyone who dared move was taken to isolation, where they beat him and tied him to a chair in the "Shabach" position, with his hands behind his back. There was nothing in the cells to help pass the time. Everything was forbidden, and they even confiscated prayer beads. For ventilation there was a window, but it wasn’t enough. I was in Ofer for about 12 days and during that whole time I wasn’t interrogated, didn’t receive a visit from a lawyer or from family, and didn’t see a judge. None of the detainees knew what they were suspected of, and everyone was in a state of tension and uncertainty. We didn't know what would happen to us, and assumed that our release depended on developments in the war between Israel and the resistance forces in Gaza. 

On 5 or 6 November, they took me out of the cell along with a group of inmates. We were about 70 detainees and they put us in cells that are usually intended for intake or release, measuring 3x3 meters. These cells are not ventilated and have a toilet and a concrete bench that can seat 4 people, but they put about 20 detainees in each. At some point, they tied my hands and transferred me to a waiting cell with 7 other people. Waiting cells are usually places where inmates are subjected to violence. They beat the detainees in that cell brutally and at random. I recognized well-known people in that cell, including politicians and journalists. They deliberately humiliated them. 

The prison staff and the Nachshon unit members beat us brutally with rifles and clubs and punched and kicked us. The worst was when they let their dogs attack us

We stayed in the waiting cell until 2:00 P.M., and then they gathered all the detainees they wanted to transfer and took us to buses. What happened next was very traumatic. As soon as they took us out of the cell, they lined us up, and the prison staff and the Nachshon unit members beat us brutally with rifles and clubs and punched and kicked us. The worst was when they let their dogs attack us. The dogs were muzzled, but it was very frightening, and they scratched our faces and hands with their claws. 

I got three deep scratches, each 4-5 centimeters long, and even though it was five months ago, they’re still visible. I was also badly beaten in the back. I told the IPS officer that I had a herniated disc and had undergone surgery, hoping they would take my condition into consideration, but instead, he ordered the Nachshon members escorting us to the bus to beat me in particular. They punched and elbowed me in the back, and one of them, a big guy, hit me especially hard in the back with his elbows, non-stop. It was only 80 meters from the waiting cell to the bus, but I swear I’ve never been beaten like that in my life. 

We got to the bus bleeding, and sat bleeding on the seats throughout the trip. It was a shocking sight. There was an iron barrier separating us from them. They ordered us to keep our heads down and we weren’t allowed to speak or move. They took us to Nafha Prison. We got there at sunset, and when they took us off the bus, they beat us again brutally. They took detainees whose hands were tied in front and tied them violently behind their backs, in a way that causes shoulders to dislocate. 

They divided us into cells. At first they put me in one cell, and after a week they transferred me to another. There were 4 bunk beds that could hold 8 inmates, but they put 14 detainees in the cell. It was very crowded. The cells were very neglected and damp, unventilated and with a lot of bugs.  

The conditions in Nafha Prison were very poor, including the food. They would raid the cells about five times a week to subdue the detainees. The raids were always a surprise, and in each one they body searched us, searched the cells, handcuffed us and took us out of the cells, and beat, humiliated and taunted us. It was exhausting. We were completely cut off from the world. There were no family visits or visits from lawyers. There was no TV, radio or clock in the cells, so we didn't even know the time. Each detainee had only one blanket, which was not enough. When they decided to punish someone, whatever the reason, they punished all the inmates in the cell. For example, one day someone defaced some old writing on the cell wall, so they punished all of us by taking away our blankets and mattresses for 5-8 days. 

While I was in Nafha, I attended a legal hearing online and learned I’d been issued an administrative detention order for six months. A military judge, a prosecutor's representative, my lawyer and a translator were present at the hearing. I participated remotely but wasn’t given a chance to speak. Only my lawyer spoke for me. 

On 27 November 2023, I was transferred to the Negev Prison (Ketziot), and there the real suffering began. I thought I’d the worst was behind me, but what was waiting for me and the others there – more than 2,000 detainees – was on another level altogether. They took everything away from me except my underwear, shirt and pants. When we got there, the Nachshon unit handed us over to the Initial Response Force (IRF), which prisoners call "the death unit." The warden of that prison does whatever he wants and says so openly. He told prisoner representatives: "My policy here is different from all the other prisons, and I can do whatever I want." For example, during roll call, we had to wake up as soon as the IRF came to count us, and they would come without warning. They would bang on the door and order us immediately to kneel in a humiliating way, with our heads down and hands up. The guards kept saying over and over, "You’re in Keter (IRF) now, you’re in Negev now," in a threatening manner. Their intention was clear from the moment we entered the prison. They conducted a very thorough naked strip-search on us, along with a lot of taunting, swearing and humiliation. 

Then they took us to the Shin Bet (ISA) office, where each detainee was asked which organization he belonged to. I didn't say anything, but the interrogator answered himself and said: "You’re ISIS." From there, they transferred me to a cell with three bunk beds and one single bed, meaning it was suited for seven inmates. They put 12 of us in that cell. The overcrowding was worse than in the previous places, you couldn’t take a single step. The cell had a disgusting toilet that stank, with no door. The light in the cell was off all day, except during roll call when it was turned on for five minutes and then turned off again. The tap had running water only an hour a day, from 2:30 to 3:30 P.M., and during that time we were supposed to drink and wash our hands and faces. We were only allowed to fill two 2-liter bottles for the 12 of us, meaning we all had to make do with four liters for 24 hours. It was a deliberate policy to make us thirsty. There was also a clear policy of starvation. Most of the day we were hungry and thirsty. We were given very little food. They would bring 12 inmates an amount that was barely enough for two. We were given only two meals a day. For example, each detainee would get six slices of bread for the entire day. The first meal was between 12:00 and 1:00 P.M.: about one kilo of rice for 12 detainees, which is roughly 3 spoonfuls each. The rice was only half-cooked. Some days, every detainee would get two small sausages or one regular one along with the rice. One time they brought us chicken schnitzel, but that didn't happen again. They told us they didn't want to waste protein on us. Twice, we were given a slice of turkey breast. The second meal was between 3:00 and 5:00 P.M.: 50 grams of yogurt for every detainee and one pepper for every eight people, or sometimes a cucumber for every two detainees instead. We didn't get anything sweet except carrots, sometimes, which I saved and ate at night. It was a treat, like eating knafeh. Sometimes they gave us one tomato for every two detainees. We got sausages or other kinds of meat only three times a week, and on the other four days, there was no meat at all. Sometimes we were given an egg. We wanted meat so badly that when there wasn't any, we’d put the rice between two slices of bread and imagine we were eating meat. We were allowed to shower only once every 20 days, and even then there were no soap or cleaning supplies. We couldn't wash our clothes either, and they stank unbearably. We couldn't clean or wash the cell . After we asked again and again for 20 days, they finally gave us the end of a squeegee mop, without the stick, to clean the cell. 

On 10 December 2023, something bit my right hand. It swelled up very quickly and turned red. It hurt a lot. The guards were shocked when they saw my hand. They had three doctors examine me, and in the end they decided it was a spider bite and not a snake bite. They gave me antibiotics and after two weeks, a hole half a centimeter wide opened up in my hand, and blood and pus started oozing out of it. That continued for a month, during which I received antibiotics from the prison administration. I had stomach medication that I took with me from home when I was arrested, and I held onto it the whole time, but at Nafha Prison they took it away from me. 

Once they told us Ben Gvir was there himself. Those humiliating visits lasted at least 40 minutes each, and the whole time we had to kneel. Sometimes the visitors took an active part in humiliating, swearing and shouting at us

There were a lot of things done to subdue the detainees, and they weren’t at regular intervals. Sometimes they would only go into one cell, and sometimes into all of them. I was in wing 25, which was known in the prison for particularly harsh punishment. All the prisoners on that wing belong to Hamas or are suspected of belonging to it. The prison administration boasted about suppressing that wing. Twice a week they would bring in visitors they presented as Jews evacuated from southern Israel because of the war, and showed them the terrible conditions we were being held in. During the visits, they explained the suppression and torture methods being used against us. They brought them into the cells and forced us to keep our heads down, so we didn't actually see the visitors. Once they told us [Minister of National Security] Ben Gvir was there himself. Those humiliating visits lasted at least 40 minutes each, and the whole time we had to kneel. Sometimes the visitors took an active part in humiliating, swearing and shouting at us. They also brought groups of soldiers to visit, to boost their morale. Sometimes they particularly humiliated Hamas leaders among us, such as ‘Aziz Dweik, chairman of the Palestinian Legislative Council. When they took him to attend his court hearing via Zoom, they first locked him in a cage in the area of the administration offices and forced him to sweep it. Whenever he stopped, someone from the IRF threatened him with a stick. That happened in front of other detainees, who were also being taken to court hearings. 

Unlike the past, there was no chance of an inmate rebellion or any resistance. Every instance of refusal was met with beatings and punishment. In my previous detentions, I remember the IPS would train forces and carry out drills in empty wing. This time they practiced on the inmates, too. Six units would come in unexpectedly, led by the IRF. They were carrying rifles, handguns and knives and they were joined by IPS units (Dror, the Yasam Special Police Unit, the Yamam Counterterrorism Unit, and Nachshon). All these units carried out practical training in the prison, which was essentially inmate suppression operations. That happened twice during my time in Negev. They had ambulances with them, and they used live ammunition, rubber bullets, stun grenades and tear-gas canisters. They shot at the windows and doors of the cells in our wing. Once, they fired a tear-gas canister into our cell, and we all started choking. We were sure we were going to die. It was terrifying beyond words. Some detainees who had previous illnesses started getting convulsions. The prison administration brought stretchers, and they wrapped two or three detainees in thermal blankets and gave them injections. We didn't know what was in those injections. Then they laid them on the stretchers and paraded them around the wing, as if they were taking away dead bodies. Once, an operation involving all the units lasted from 6:30 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. They took us out of the wing, put us in isolation cells, stripped us, and searched the wing. They moved our belongings and mattresses and destroyed everything there. 

Praying and calling for prayers was forbidden, as was having a Quran. The windows weren't sealed and it was cold. We shivered from cold even though we wrapped ourselves in blankets. They used a sound amplification system to drive us crazy. They played all sorts of sounds like "wshh, wshh" 24 hours a day. It sounded like turbines and was a real nuisance. They also used the loudspeakers to play loud music and report all sorts of "news" ("we killed Sinwar", "we eliminated Hamas", "we destroyed Gaza", etc.). Sometimes they played the Israeli anthem. It was non-stop and we didn't have a single moment of peace. In every cell there was a painting of the Star of David, and on the walls there were slogans: "Fuck you Hamas", "Hamas are ISIS", and "Hamas are sons of bitches". Every day, the guards in charge of roll call threatened: "Let's see what happens to anyone who tries to erase one of the sentences written here." 

There were no family visits and there was no contact with anyone on the outside, not even the Red Cross. We were cut off from the news and the outside world

There were no family visits and there was no contact with anyone on the outside, not even the Red Cross. We were cut off from the news and the outside world. The only information we could get was when a lawyer visited one of the detainees. 

After the visit to the hospital, they beat me again. The doctor gave me medication for my stomach, and about diabetes he said it wasn't under his purview

While I was in Negev, I attended an appeal filed on my behalf on Zoom. The lawyer managed to get two months off my detention. I used the opportunity and complained to the judge about the policy of leaving us hungry and thirsty and holding back on medication and treatments. I told him I had hypoglycemia and was forced to eat toothpaste. He was surprised when he heard that. I really did use toothpaste to raise my blood sugar level a bit. I didn't actually eat it, but I put it in my mouth to absorb some sugar. The court decided I should be taken to hospital and after three days, they really did take me. When the doctor saw my yellowish face, exhaustion and severe weight loss, he called the officer responsible for the prison in front of me and said that if I stayed in that condition, my life would be in danger. But the prison administration didn't care. After the visit to the hospital, they beat me again. The doctor gave me medication for my stomach, and about diabetes he said it wasn't under his purview. He gave me some cream for hemorrhoids that helped relieve the pain, and medication for my constant nausea. 

Usually, detainees are informed in the morning when they’re about to be released. But on the day my four-month detention was up, they didn't tell me anything in the morning. I was afraid they wouldn't release me. Every second and every minute that went by felt like a whole day. When you're an administrative detainee, you don't know if you'll be released or issued a new order, and that's the hardest thing about administrative detention. An administrative detainee doesn't know why they arrested him and what the charges are against him, he doesn't know when he’ll be released, and he isn't sent to court hearings. His fate is in the hands of God. The young men started comforting me. They thought I wouldn't be released because I hadn’t been called at 7:00 in the morning. But suddenly, they called me at 2:00 P.M. and took me to another cell, and there I stayed until 4:00 P.M. I thought they were taking me to isolation or to another prison. At 4:00, they took me for an examination of personal information at the police offices, and then the police officers informed me those were steps toward my release. At 5:00 P.M., I was released from prison. 

IPS and Nachshon guards took me to a-Dhahiriyah crossing along with 3 other detainees. When I asked about my personal belongings – my pants, shoes, belt and shirt – the Nachshon guys hit me. They only gave my ID card back. 

The detention was prolonged torture. Abuse, humiliation, and degradation like I've never experienced in my life. 

When they weighed me at Ofer Prison at the beginning of the detention, I weighed 89 kilos. When they released me, I immediately went to the hospital in Ramallah, and there they found my weight had dropped to 62 kilos – 27 kilos less. My blood iron dropped from 15.3 to 11.8, and my bowel problems were worse. After the tests at the hospital, I went home to complete the treatment.

* Testimony given to B’Tselem field researcher Iyad Hadad on 31 March 2024